On Fri, 17 Feb 2006 19:30:09 +0000, Builder <> wrote:
>Thank you Matt! I just ordered one with a 17" screen. Looking forward to the test run. Thanks to Santa CAD also for taking the time to reply.
Well, I would caution that I said that Autodesk programs would run and run well;
this is entirely within keeping that they run (and run well) on existing
Centrino Pentium M systems. I did not say how much better something would
perform over a comparatively less expensive run of the mill Pentium M based
laptop.
In keeping with typical single vs dual core systems, the amount of advantage a
dual core system will have over single depends almost entirely on what you are
doing on the system.
Windows is already multithreaded, so you will see a nice speed boost in simple
multitasking, especially when two apps are churning away at the same time (e.g.,
ripping a DVD while surfing the web).
AutoCAD, being largely single threaded, will not see much of an improvement
today. But with 3ds max or VIZ, both being multithreaded apps, you WILL see a
noticeable improvement in rendering speeds and in general all around
pixel-pushing responsiveness.
That's not to say that this will always be the case. Dual core systems are going
to quickly supplant single core in almost every market segment, which will
undoubtedly push software developers towards multithreaded applications.
However, there ARE issues with the Duo that you should be aware of:
http://news.com.com/Microsoft+driver+flaw+saps+battery+strength/2100-1012_3-6040586.html?tag=nefd.top
Apparently there's a serious power-draining problem if you use a USB 2.0 device.
Although, this seems to be a bug in Windows XP, and I would expect this to be
resolved fairly soon.
Matt
mstachoni@comcast.net
mstachoni@bhhtait.com
